Divorce Attorney Shin Episode 7

Episode 7 of Divorce Attorney Shin begins with Sung-han getting fitted for a brand new suit. He’s looking pretty suave and he heads in to see Yu-seok at Keumhwa. Yu-seok boasts about how nice his office is, as the conversation turns to Sung-han’s mission after that. Sung-han is not deterred and he clarifies a few things with his rival, likening Yu-seok to a con artist.

Sung-han brings two messages for Yeong-ju: “Nice timing” and “1225”. As Yo-Seok subsequently passes this on, Yeong-ju knows what it means but keeps a strict poker face going. After all, Yeong-ju knows that Sung-han is about to fall for her bait, which happens to be for Ma Chun-seok case.

Yeong-ju’s client is Dinh Thi Hoa, Ma Chun-seok’s Vietnamese wife, and the guy Sung-han spoke to last episode. Prior to their consultation, Chun-seok made a big scene with his wife outside and it was Yeong-ju who gave him the business card and suggested he go and see Sung-han.

Sung-han visits his mother-in-law, Ma Geum-hee, first. She has her own marital issues with her husband, ignoring his calls constantly and not wanting to go home. Sung-han is aware of this and hands her his business card, urging Geum-hee to ring if she needs to. He can’t guarantee a win but does promise to put up a fight for her.

Sung-han returns to his office after this, still wearing his suit, and bringing the attention from all the other staff. Hyeong-geun and Jeong-sik are convinced that something’s up and they decide to quiz him about it. Is it the grapes? Is it a blind date? All sorts of ideas are thrown out in his office, until Heong-geun is convinced to stop by the noodle shop. He thinks it’s because So-yeon has a crush on him but it just seems to be some friendly food, courtesy of So-yeon’s mum who’s happy about the divorce and wanted to treat him.

Yeong-ju starts to feel the heat, stirring things up with Geum-hee’s husband (whom we’ll just refer to as “the chairman” from now on). Yeong-ju also organizes to do a public showing on the Dinh Thi Hoa case. She wants to make Keumhwa Law Firm look like the good guys “giving hope to the socially disadvantaged”. She’s dead-set on destroying Sung-han but it’s a dangerous game. If she goes all in with this, it could backfire spectacularly.

Back at the office, Seo-jin receives some devastating news. The client she met with last episode, Jo Min-jeong, has overdosed and she’s currently in hospital. Shocked, Seo-jin hitches a ride from Mr Choi to the hospital, but she’s concerned about whether Min-jeong will actually want to meet them or not. Either way, Seo-jin plucks up the courage and shows all the same. Whilst there, she breaks the news to her parents that Min-jeong was in the process of sorting a divorce.

For Seo-jin, this is personal and she speaks to Min-jeong about her own situation when the young woman regains consciousness. Seo-jin opens up about exactly what drove her to have an affair, and what’s keeping her going right not. The thing is, Min-jeong has reached the point where she wants to die before she’ll find peace.

Seo-jin though admits that she’s still afraid of busy, public places but by working with Sung-han at the law firm she’s starting to find a purpose for herself. Min-jeong mulls over the words.

As for Mr Choi, he heads into the waiting room and notices Min-jeong’s partner sitting, watching dramas and chuckling to himself quietly. This is obviously completely at odds with his public display of “sympathy” earlier when he showed up and acted concerned about Min-jeong.

Back at the office, Sung-han receives a letter from his client, Chun-seok, confirming that Dinh Thi Hoa has filed for injuries against her. Apparently he hit her with a baseball bat and she fractured her left arm trying to defend herself. Mr Ma is adamant that this is completely fake and Sung-han is inclined to believe him.

The guy is a farmer and can’t raise his right arm right npw due to his frozen shoulder, and he’s in a lot of pain too. There’s no way he would have used a different arm to swing the bat because that would instinctively mean Dinh Thi Hoa would have raised her other arm.

After staying in a hotel that night, Geum-hee meets with her husband in the morning but the chairman is tone deaf to his wife’s needs and what’s happening. He even tries to convince her to move back in. Furthermore, he goes on to offer loads of different dishes and even tells Geum-hee that she can’t just “wander around forever”.

Nothing seems to be working and this standoffish behaviour only worries the chairman further, as he remembers Yeong-ju telling him about Geum-hee’s meeting with Sung-han.

Back at the office, a woman called Ho-yeong shows up with a lemon tree. It’s for Seo-jin, and it turns out this is actually the producer she used to work with on the radio show. She comments on the positive energy in the building and they all sit down to have a chat. That is, until Jeong-sik shows up and makes a fool of himself, first complaining about the car parked outside during “peak hours” (It’s Ho-yeong’s) and next discussing the radio show… and reciting an opening line from their rival programme. It’s all very awkwardly hilarious.

Geum-hee meets with Sung-han again afterwards and admits that she’s afraid to try and divorce the chairman. She’s going back to Hawaii soon and trying to fight against the chairman’s team of lawyers, it’ll make Sung-han look bad and she’s not prepared to do that.

Besides, Sung-han has bigger problems to deal with. Yeong-ju has made the Dinj Thi Hoa case public, promoting her own law firm on the news and making Mr Ma look like an abusive husband.

With everything out in the open, Sung-han rings his client and tells Chun-seok that he needs to defend his honour. Specifically, he needs to fight to prove to the world that he didn’t buy and abuse his Vietnamese wife. The lawsuit is going to get messy before it’s resolved, Sung-han warns, but promises that this will end their way if they play their cards right.

The Episode Review

Yeong-ju has made a very public statement here and it’s pretty brazen that she’d use this case to besmirch Sung-han’s name and take down Mr Ma at the same time, all whilst hiding behind this facade of physical abuse that now seems to have been completely fabricated.

There are several intriguing threads running through the series alongside the main story though, with the recurring theme of divorce evident in many of the subplots. We’ve got the whole Seo-jin recovery thread too, which has taken on an interesting dynamic with Min-jeong’s case, while Geum-hee is contemplating a divorce of her own.

There’s a little less comedy in this chapter though as the main storyline starts to take shape, and it would appear that the upcoming episodes are going to double down on the drama surrounding the Mr Ma case. Yu-seok’s declaration that this could take down Keumhwa Law Firm completely should Yeong-ju fail could actually come to pass, and that may be how Sung-han “wins” in the end.